"Curse of Bobby Layne
In
1958, the defending NFL champion Lions traded Layne to the
Pittsburgh Steelers in early October for
Earl Morrall and two draft choices.
[16][17][18] Layne responded to the trade by supposedly saying that the Lions would "not win for 50 years."
[29] This story has been called a
hoax, particularly because the quote was never published at the time.
[30]
Over the next half-century after the trade, the Lions accumulated one of the worst winning percentages of any team in the NFL. The Lions had no playoff wins in almost 35 years, back to back losing seasons and being swept by divisions constantly, they were 1–10 in postseason appearances; their lone playoff win came against Dallas following the
1991 regular season. In the last year of the supposed curse in
2008, the Lions were 0-16. As for the Steelers, they also won the
Super Bowl that year and their previous appearance in
Detroit in 2006 which they also won, they became one of the most dominant teams in the NFL winning six Super Bowls: 1974 (
IX), 1975 (
X), 1978 (
XIII), 1979 (
XIV), 2005 (
XL), 2008 (
XLIII)
[31]
In the
2009 NFL Draft, right after the curse supposedly expired, the Detroit Lions selected
University of Georgia quarterback
Matthew Stafford first overall. Stafford was an alumnus of Layne's former school
Highland Park High School and also lived in a house on the same street as Layne's.
[32] In the
2011 season, Stafford's first full injury-free season, he led the Lions to their
first playoff berth since 1999, but lost to fellow Texan
Drew Brees and the
New Orleans Saints. Also, in the 60 years since the curse, the Lions also endured multiple
playoff droughts lasting more than 6 years, including the year of the trade, the Lions did not make the playoffs in 12 consecutive seasons. (1958–1969; 1984–1990; 1971–1981; 2000–2010)."
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